Luke stepped closer as the woman checked his tray. "Go ahead."
She adjusted the crystal. Pale light gathered beneath the black shell, catching the red streaks along its surface.
Pathan beckoned the camera orb closer. "A thousand credits," he reminded his viewers. Luke resisted the urge to remind him whose thousand credits they were. But the guy was not done yet.
"Let’s see what our young master picked. The poor guy has been losing a lot lately. Our young master here is the only Ashford who failed to awaken all the three times. Goddess Charlotte dumped him on the same day and his family has also officially dissociated themselves from him."
A few people in the crowd turned from the egg to look at Luke.
"That’s him?"
"I saw the clip from the awakening ceremony."
Emma went rigid beside him.
Luke kept his eyes on the tray.He had agreed to endure a little mockery. Apparently, Pathan had prepared a whole fucking biography.
"And now he’s here trying his luck with beast eggs," Pathan continued. "You have to admire his persistence."
Someone laughed.
Luke felt heat creep up his neck. Knowing what the guy was trying to do didn’t make standing there any more pleasant. Part of him wanted to shove the camera orb into Pathan’s mouth.
Instead, he watched a thin crack spread across the shell.
Come on. Hatch already. The egg shifted. For all his attempts to keep his expectations low, his heart still beat a little faster. He wanted something useful. It didn’t have to be a dragon. A decent beast that could grow alongside them would be enough.
A small piece of shell broke away. Something dark pressed against the opening, then withdrew. Tiny claws scraped along the inside.
A dragon... was this a dragon?
A wet nose emerged, followed by a narrow head and two round ears. The creature struggled briefly, bracing its front paws against the shell before dragging the rest of its body into the tray.
Gray fur. A thin tail. Little pink feet.
Luke rubbed his eyes and looked. Fuck! This was not a dragon! This was a little mouse!
He focused on it immediately.
[Ash Mouse]
[Rank: F]
[Level: 1]
No hidden bloodline. No mysterious sealed form. At least, nothing the system felt like mentioning. The mouse sat among the pieces of its very expensive shell and began washing its face.
Pathan stared for a second. Then he doubled over. "A mouse! A fucking mouse!" His friends joined in, and the camera orb swooped down for a closer look.
Luke stood there, watching the tiny creature rub its ears. He had wanted something that could carry him away from danger. This thing could probably fit inside his shoe.
"A thousand credits," Pathan wheezed. "You could have bought a sack of grain and waited!" Someone behind them laughed so hard they started coughing.
Luke forced himself to breathe slowly.
Fine. This was fine. Public humiliation, no injuries, free mouse. If this satisfied whatever twisted sense of humor his title had, he would consider it a bargain. Unfortunately, there was no notification confirming that fate was done fucking with him for the day.
Emma moved beside him. "Young master, I—"
He squeezed her hand. "Don’t."
Her mouth closed, but she looked close to tears. That bothered him more than the laughter.
The mouse, meanwhile, had discovered its own tail. It caught the tip between its front paws, sniffed it, then let go. Not exactly displaying terrifying intelligence either.
Luke looked at the woman. "What can it do?"
"It tolerates heat well. Eats grain, insects, kitchen scraps. Some alchemists keep them around to clean up spilled ingredients."
"Carefully selected ingredients," the shopkeeper added quickly.
Pathan wiped at his eyes. "There you go! Your maid can sweep, and your beast can eat the rubbish."
Emma’s expression hardened. Luke spoke before she could. "Alright. Can I take it and leave then?"
The shopkeeper blinked. "You’re keeping it?" Seeing Luke’s face, he quickly added. "Right. Yes. of course, you can leave, young master Ashford. But make sure the little thing eats his shell completely."
Luke nodded. He picked up the mouse that was nibbling on one shell fragment and Emma collected all of the other shell pieces in her spatial ring.
"What? Leaving already? We still have plenty of eggs to hatch. Come on, Ashford. Don’t be upset. It suits you."
Luke kept walking. Behind him, Pathan laughed again, apparently delighted with his own joke.
Luke didn’t look back to see Pathan’s reaction. He stepped out into the sunlight with Emma beside him and a mouse sitting in his palm. The little thing continued nibbling its shell, completely unconcerned by the fact that it had just become the most expensive disappointment in the shop.
For a while, neither of them spoke. Then Emma said, "Young master, I shouldn’t have said you reserved it."
Luke glanced at her. "I knew you hadn’t. I just..." Her fingers twisted together. "He was taking everything because you were interested, and I got angry."
"So did I."
She looked up.
"I’m still angry," Luke admitted. "But we’re out of there now."
"You bought it because of me."
He could have denied that. She wouldn’t have believed him. "Partly," he said. "I also wanted to try my luck. And he paid for it in the end."
Emma looked at the mouse. "I thought it might be something special."
"Yeah. Me too."
The mouse finished its fragment and began sniffing his fingers for more. Luke was just about to ask Emma for another piece of its shell when suddenly the mouse turned to the right and then directly jumped off of his palm and ran away.
By the time Luke realized what happened, the little thing was long gone. He stared at his empty hand. Then he looked down at the street. A narrow drainage grate sat beside the curb. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."
Emma dropped into a crouch beside it. "I saw it go this way."
Luke knelt next to her and peered between the iron bars. Darkness. A little water. Something that smelled considerably worse than anything he wanted to put his face near. No mouse.
He had owned a beast companion for approximately ten minutes. Apparently, that had been enough for it to evaluate his prospects and leave.
Emma retrieved a piece of shell from her ring. "Maybe we can lure it back."
"Worth a try."
She held it near the grate. They waited. "Come on, little guy," he muttered. "You haven’t even finished breakfast." They waited a few more minutes but nothing really happened.
"Leave it. Let’s go. What’s the point anyway." Luke stood up and started walking. Emma took one look and also started walking. But the next second, a squeak sound came from behind them.
Luke stopped. A tiny gray head poked through the drainage grate. The mouse squeezed between the bars, scrambled onto the curb, and shook itself.
Emma immediately crouched. "There you are!"
The mouse ignored the shell in her hand. It ran straight to Luke and dropped something beside his boot. He picked it up.
It was a mana stone!
Luke immediately recognized it. Everyone knew what it was. Even the system notification announced it.
Ding! [You have acquired a low-tier mana stone]
Luke stared at the notification, then at the mouse. The little creature stood on its hind legs and squeaked at him. "You went down there for this?"
Luke turned the stone between his fingers. Beneath the grime, it had a faint blue glow. Mana stones powered all sorts of equipment, including the incubation trays they had just used. Even a low-tier one had value. They were also extremely useful in absorbing mana.
And this little bastard had found one in a drain.
Emma held out the shell fragment again. The mouse took it immediately and settled beside Luke’s foot. "Young master, did it bring you a gift?"
Luke picked up the mouse and put it on his shoulder. "I am liking this little guy more and more." He focussed on the mouse again.
[Ash Mouse]
[Rank: F]
[Level: 1]
He hadn’t expected the description to change, but he had to check. Was this little mouse really so ordinary? Or is this simply a coincidence?
Luke had a feeling that something was up. Maybe he could sniff mana stones? But he wasn’t going to figure it out by staring at the thing in the middle of the street. The mouse settled against his collar and resumed eating. A crumb of shell fell down his shirt.
Luke chuckled. He had never had a pet before so this too was new for him. "What should we call him, Emma? How about scam?"
Emma stared at him.
"What? A thousand credits, and he immediately ran away. He earned it. Fine. Fine. How about little thief?" Seeing Emma’s face change, Luke laughed. "Okay. How about Nibbles?" He suggested looking at the little mouse nibbling away at the shell cutely.
Emma immediately nodded her head vigorously. "Nibbles is a nice name, young master. It suits him perfectly."
"Nibbles it is."
The mouse paused, glanced at him, and resumed chewing.
Luke smiled. Apparently, the naming ceremony was less important than breakfast.
They continued toward the residence. Emma walked a little closer now, occasionally reaching up to steady Nibbles whenever he shifted on Luke’s shoulder. The little creature accepted her attention without complaint.
"Alright. Since we have had a pretty good day so far, how about we go and get something fancy to eat? Maybe some kind of high-level beast meat. I hear those things can really help with the mana circulation in the body."